Trump administration sanctions all Iranian airlines in aviation crackdown

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced it is sanctioning 27 Iranian air carriers in a bid to deny the government in Tehran the ability to move "weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo", the Treasury said in a statement. The move is part of Operation Economic Outcast, the expanded sanctions project that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said is meant to choke off Iran's access to the global economy. The US first sanctioned an Iranian commercial airline, Mahan Air, in 2011. "Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system," Bessent said on Tuesday.